YVES BASSET, Ph.D.

Tupper Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

 Mailing address: STRI, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama, Ph +507 227 6022 (extn 2328), Fax +507 212 8148, e-mail: bassety@tivoli.si.edu

EDUCATION:

• Ph.D., Biology, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, 1990
• M.Sc., Biology, University of Neuchtel, Switzerland, 1985

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS:

• National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA, Research Associate, 2000-
• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, USA - Panama, Postdoctoral fellow, 1998-
• International Institute of Entomology, London, High Scientific Officer, 1995-1998
• Swiss National Science Foundation, Bern, Switzerland/ University of Hawai'i , Honolulu, Postdoctoral fellow, 1992-1995
• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai'i , Research Associate, 1992-
• Christensen Research Institute, Papua New Guinea, Research Associate, 1994-
• Wau Ecology Institute, Papua New Guinea, Research Associate, 1992-1994
• University of Padova, Italy, Scientific Adviser and Research Associate, 1991
• Queensland Museum, Australia, Research Associate, 1986-1989
• Museum of Natural History of Geneva, Switzerland, Research Associate, 1985-

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS:

• Earl S. Tupper postdoctoral fellowship in Tropical Biology, Smithsonian Institution, USA ($81,000, 1998)
• Research grant from the NSF, USA (Co-PI, $ 212,000, DEB-97-07928, 1997)
• Research grant from the NSF, USA (Co-PI, $ 60,000, DEB-96-28840, 1996)
• Research grant from the National Geographic Society, USA ($5,627, 1995)
• Research grant from the NSF, USA (Co-PI, $ 30,000, DEB-94-07297, 1994)
• Research grant from the Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea - USA (valued $ 36,000, 1993).
• Research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (FS 50,180, 1992)
• Research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (FS 56,230, 1991)
• Research grant from "Operation Canopy Raft", France (joint project; FF 51,000, 1991)
• Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (A$ 45,000, 1985-1989)

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Herbivory and insect-plant interactions, particularly species richness and host-specificity of insect herbivores; insect spatial and temporal distribution; community structure and taxonomy of arboreal arthropods, particularly from tropical forest canopies; community ecology; training of parataxonomists; statistical methods in ecology; computing.

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE:

Honorary Research Associate, University of Panama (1999-)
Part-time lecturer at the University of Guyana, Georgetown (1997-1998).
Supervision of one M.Sc. student at the University of Guyana, Guyana (1996-1998).
Chairman of one of the plenary sessions of the 5th European Congress of Entomology, 1994 (York).
Supervision of M.Sc. students at the University of Padova, Italy (1991).
External referee of a M.Sc. Thesis submitted at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (1993).
Occasional tutoring at Griffith University (1985-1989).

Scientific referee for Ecological Entomology, Australian Journal of Ecology, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Biotropica, Journal of Tropical Forest Science, Revue Suisse de Zoologie, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Journal of Applied Ecology, Academic Press, Journal of Tropical Ecology, Ecology.

DISTINCTIONS:

Award A.-F. Schlfi, from the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences, 1996, ex-aequo (FS 2,500).

FIELD EXPERIENCE:

Australia, Brasil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Guyana, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Switzerland, Thailand.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (66 in total):

Basset, Y. (1991) The taxonomic composition of the arthropod fauna associated with an Australian rainforest tree. Australian Journal of Zoology 39, 171-190.

Basset, Y. (1991) Influence of leaf traits on the spatial distribution of insect herbivores associated with an overstorey rainforest tree. Oecologia 87, 388-393.

Basset, Y. (1991) Leaf production of an overstorey rainforest tree and its effects on the temporal distribution of associated insect herbivores. Oecologia 88, 211-219.

Basset, Y. & Kitching, R.L. (1991) Species number, species abundance and body length of arboreal arthropods associated with an Australian rainforest tree. Ecological Entomology 16, 391-402.

Basset, Y. (1992) Host specificity of arboreal and free-living insect herbivores in rain forests. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 47, 115-133.

Basset, Y., Aberlenc, H.-P. & Delvare, G. (1992) Abundance and stratification of foliage arthropods in a lowland rain forest of Cameroon. Ecological Entomology 17, 310-318.

Basset, Y. (1994) Palatability of tree foliage to chewing insects: a comparison between a temperate and a tropical site. Acta Oecologica 15, 181-191.

Basset, Y., Samuelson, G.A. & Miller, S.E. (1996) Similarities and contrasts in the local insect faunas associated with ten forest tree species of New Guinea. Pacific Science 50, 157-183.

Basset, Y. (1996) Local communities of arboreal herbivores in Papua New Guinea: predictors of insect variables. Ecology 77, 1906-1919.

Basset, Y. & Samuelson, G.A. (1996) Ecological characteristics of an arboreal community of Chrysomelidae in Papua New Guinea. In: Chrysomelidae Biology. Volume 2: Ecological Studies (eds P.H.A. Jolivet & M.L. Cox), pp. 243-262. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam.

Basset, Y., Samuelson, G.A., Allison, A. & Miller, S.E. (1996) How many host-specific insect species feed on a species of tropical tree? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 59, 201-216.

Basset, Y. (1997) Species - abundance and body size relationships in insect herbivores associated with New Guinea forest trees, with particular reference to insect host-specificity. In: Canopy Arthropods (eds N.E. Stork, J.A. Adis & R.K. Didham), pp. 237-264. Chapman & Hall, London.

Basset, Y., Springate, N.D., Aberlenc, H.-P. & Delvare, G. (1997) A review of methods for sampling arthropods in tree canopies. In: Canopy Arthropods (eds N.E. Stork, J.A. Adis & R.K. Didham), pp. 27-52. Chapman & Hall, London.

Basset, Y., Novotny, V. & Weiblen, G. (1997) Ficus: a resource for arthropods in the tropics, with particular reference to New Guinea. In Forests and Insects: 18th Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society (eds A. Watt, N.E. Stork & M. Hunter), pp. 341-361. Chapman & Hall, London.

Basset, Y., Novotny, V., Miller, S.E. & Springate, N.D. (1998) Assessing the impact of forest disturbance on tropical invertebrates: some comments. Journal of Applied Ecology 35, 461-466.

Basset, Y. & Novotny, V. 1999. Species diversity of insects herbivores on Ficus spp. in Papua New Guinea. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 67, 477-499.

Basset, Y. 1999. Diversity and abundance of insect herbivores foraging on seedlings in a rain forest in Guyana. Ecological Entomology 24, 245-259.

Novotny, V. & Basset, Y. 2000. Ecological characteristics of rare species in communities of tropical insect herbivores: pondering the mystery of singletons. Oikos 89, 564-572.

Basset, Y., Novotny, V., Miller, S. E. & Pyle, R. (2000) Quantifying biodiversity: experiences with parataxonomists and digital photography in New Guinea and Guyana. BioScience 50, 899-908.

SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED OR IN PREPARATION
(relevant to current interests and research):

Basset, Y., Hammond, D.S., Gombauld, P., De Dijn, B., Forget, P.-M. & Springate, N.D. Insect-plant interactions in the rain forests of the Guianas: an entomocentric perspective. Submitted to Tropical Rainforests of the Guianas (eds ter Steege, H. & Hammond, D.S.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Amsterdam.

Miller, S.E. & Basset, Y. Biogeography of insects of the California Channel Islands (for Journal of Biogeography).

Weiblen, G., Novotny, V., Basset, Y. & Miller, S.E. Relationships between plant phylogeny and the associations of insect herbivores: examples from Ficus in Papua New Guinea. 

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